1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to well working fluids useful in drilling, completing or workover of oil and gas wells, and, specifically, to an invert emulsion type fluid having a non-hydrocarbon, non-mineral oil external phase and an aqueous internal phase which provides many of the advantages of an oil-based mud without the attendant adverse environmental effects.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the drilling of oil and gas wells, drilling fluid is circulated through the interior of the drill string and then back up to the surface through the annulus between the drill string and the wall of the borehole. The drilling fluid serves various purposes including lubricating the drill bit and pipe, carrying cuttings from the bottom of the well borehole to the surface of the ground, and imposing a hydrostatic head on the formation being drilled to prevent the escape of oil, gas or water into the well borehole during the drilling operations.
Occasionally during drilling, the drill string becomes stuck and cannot be raised, lowered or rotated. There are numerous causes for this problem, one of the most common being differential sticking. Differential sticking usually occurs when drilling permeable formations and borehole pressures are greater than formation pressures and when the drill pipe remains at rest against the wall of the borehole for enough time to allow mud filter cake to build up around the pipe. The pressure exerted by drilling fluid then holds the pipe against the cake wall.
For a number of years, oil-based fluids have been popular both as drilling fluids and as stuck pipe fluids. These fluids typically are comprised of a hydrocarbon oil or oils as the major component of the liquid phase to which various materials are added to impart the desired drilling fluid properties. These fluids are well adapted for use in underground formations containing water sensitive clays or shales which swell and disintegrate when contacted by water-based drilling fluids. Such fluids are substantially free of water, lose mostly oil as the filtrate and cause no swelling or disintegration of water sensitive clays and shales. One widely used oil-base fluid is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,624, issued July 30, 1963, to Doyne L. Wilson. Water-in-oil emulsions are also used as drilling fluids. These fluids contain a high percentage of oil and a lesser percentage of water dispersed in the continuous or external phase of oil.
In order to free stuck pipe, prior art treatments involve the placement in and movement through the circulating mud system of a volume of a release agent, known as a spotting fluid, which is sufficient to fully contact the region of the borehole where the pipe is stuck. Thus, a suitably weighted oil-based fluid is circulated in the borehole to a position opposite the stuck interval. Over a period of time, the integrity of the mud filter cake between the drill pipe and borehole is reduced, allowing pressure equalization on all sides of the pipe. The invasion of oil into the filter cake is also thought to reduce the adhesive forces and lubricate the area between the pipe and borehole, resulting in less friction and quicker release.
Oil-based formulations used in the past as spotting fluids are described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,436,638 and 4,464,269. Water-based formulations are also known for use in releasing differentially stuck pipe. They are described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,233,622; 4,230,587; 4,466,486; and 4,614,235. To our knowledge, invert emulsions having a non-hydrocarbon, non-mineral oil external phase and an aqueous internal phase have not been utilized.
Environmental regulations have recently either prohibited or severely limited the use of oil-based and invert emulsion oil muds as either drilling fluids or as spotting fluids. In many offshore areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico, the use of oil muds is strictly regulated. Restrictive regulations have thus created a need for a novel fluid which will fill the niche formerly occupied by oil muds, i.e., drilling fluids for active argillaceous formations, and spotting fluids used to release drill pipe held by differential pressure.
The present invention has as its object to provide such a replacement fluid for an oil-base mud which has significant advantages over water-based fluids when used in the before mentioned well bore operations.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel fluid for well bore operations which provides improved hole stability, bit lubrication, and which minimizes hydration and dispersion of shale within the circulating fluid system.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a fluid which will perform the function of an oil-based spotting fluid but which does not leave a sheen upon receiving waters and which meets current environmental toxicity standards, thereby eliminating environmental problems caused by oil-based fluids.